What is the main purpose of Business Process Analytics?

A: Business Process Analytics is the supporting root cause analysis tool for activities in the area of Business Process Improvement for SAP solutions. So implementing Business Process Analytics should not necessarily be a goal by itself, but should rather be a mean for the Business Process Improvement goal.back to top

Which prerequisites have to be met in order to setup Business Process Analytics?

A: The technical prerequisites are very similar to those for Business Process Monitoring described in SAP notes 784752 - "BPMon in SAP Solution Manager - Prerequisites" and 521820 - "Availability of Business Process Monitoring". Further prerequisites are described in the corresponding Setup Guide for Business Process Analytics at (SMP login required) http://service.sap.com/bpimp > Media Library > Technical Information.back to top

Who is the target group for Business Process Analytics?

A: In general the target groups are global/local business process owner or global/local SAP module owner who have a supervisory role and want to understand if all organizational units and process variants have the same problem or not and if all organizational units are adhering to the same template processes. Although Business Process Analytics can be used from "normal" end users, it is not desinged for this purpose.back to top

How can I involve my manager and get the Business Process Analytics data to him?

Can I also access Business Process Analytics on my mobile device?

The Dependency Diagrams and the Progress Management Board applications are SAPUI5 application and run on any mobile device. Also the WebDynpro application Business Process Operations Dashboards can be displayed mobile. Business Process Analytics itself (also as WebDynpro application in SAP Solution Manager 7.1) can be displayed on a mobile but not all features are working. In SAP Solution Manager there exists an alternative SAPUI5 Business Process Analytics application which can be used on all mobile platforms.

What is the typical effort to implement Business Process Analytics?

A: The technical implementation of Business Process Analytics is very simple and quick, as so many key figures are provided out-of-the-box. A simple pilot can always be implemented within a day, e.g. during the SAP CQC service for Business Process Analysis & Monitoring. The time consuming piece is the root cause analysis why certain key figures return backlog documents. This root cause analysis has to be performed in a combined effort between business and IT and can take several days to weeks per key figure.back to top

Can I also analyze non-SAP and non-ABAP?

A: No, currently Business Process Analytics only supports the pre-configured key figures for the different SAP Business Suite ABAP environments.back to top

Do I need process models in SAP Solution Manager for Business Process Analytics?

A: No, unlike Business Process Monitoring it is not required to have process models in place in order to use Business Process Analytics. You are typically collecting data across different document types, i.e. different process variants. Due to this fact the setup for Business Process Analytics happens only in the context of a Logical Component (system/client) and not in the context of a specific business process.back to top

Is it possible to compare different organizational units or process variants?

Is it possible to see also values in a certain currency?

A: Yes, with the latest Business Process Analytics version described in New Business Process Analytics features with SAP SolMan 7.1 SP5 it is now also possible to show the value of the counted documents (if the respective key figures provides values) in a selected currency as part of the Advanced Benchmarking functionality. If your SAP Solution Manager 7.1 is even on support package level 13 or higher, then you can migrate to a new TwinCube concept and then you would be also able to use the "normal" Benchmarking and historic trend reporting with values.back to top

Is it possible to analyze also charecteristics with thousands of different characteristic value combinations (e.g. materials, FI accounts)?

A: Yes, with the latest Business Process Analytics version described in New Business Process Analytics features with SAP SolMan 7.1 SP5 it is now also possible to benchmark characteristics which are not stored in any InfoCube. This is part of the new Advanced Benchmarking functionality and allows to evaluate material/plant combinations or benchmarks across FI accounts or customers (if the respective key figures provides this information).back to top

Is it possible to measure lead times or cycle times for a business process?

A: Yes, the first set of lead times for an Order to Cash, Procure to Pay, Plan to Produce and Request to Settle process were introduced in 2011 with ST-A/PI 01N. Since then further out-of-the-box lead times were introduced across the different SAP BusinessSuite components.back to top

Is it possible to measure the degree of utilized automation in the SAP system?

A: Yes, the first set of automation rates were introduced in 2013 with ST-A/PI 01Q. Since then further out-of-the-box automation rate key figures were introduced across the different SAP BusinessSuite components in order to check how many business documents got automatically in the SAP system versus manually created ones. back to top

How is the time frame in the selection screen related to the document date in the result list?

A: There is no such relation. It is a common misconception that the two things are somehow related. The time frame in the selection screen is referring to the date under which a data collection was stored in the InfoCube - this is especially important for the Trend Analysis functionality. The document date or billing date or any other date in the document itself are not important for the storage in the InfoCube itself (except for throughput key figures). The dates in the documents are analyzed via the Age Analysis functionality in Business Process Analytics.back to top

How is the performance of the backend affected by Business Process Analytics?

A: So far no customers reported significant performance decreases on the backend due to Business Process Analytics. A system resource consumption of 2% is already considered as high for Business Process Analytics. Every key figure is typically just collected once per day or even less frequent.back to top

Can I transport my Business Process Analytics configuration from my development SAP Solution Manager to my production SAP Solution Manager?

A: No. As the Analytics configuration is considered as master data, there is no transport mechanism available.back to top

What is the difference between Business Process Analytics and the traditional SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse?